Isaiah 8

New International Version

Isaiah and His Children as Signs

8 The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll^(A) and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.”^[a]^(B) ²So I called in Uriah^(C) the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses^(D) for me. ³Then I made love to the prophetess,^(E) and she conceived and gave birth to a son.^(F) And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.^(G) ⁴For before the boy knows^(H) how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus^(I) and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.^(J)”

⁵The Lord spoke to me again:

⁶“Because this people has rejected^(K)
    the gently flowing waters of Shiloah^(L)
and rejoices over Rezin
    and the son of Remaliah,^(M)
⁷therefore the Lord is about to bring against them
    the mighty floodwaters^(N) of the Euphrates—
    the king of Assyria^(O) with all his pomp.^(P)
It will overflow all its channels,
    run over all its banks^(Q)
⁸and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it,^(R)
    passing through it and reaching up to the neck.
Its outspread wings^(S) will cover the breadth of your land,
    Immanuel^[b]!”^(T)

⁹Raise the war cry,^[c]^(U) you nations, and be shattered!^(V)
    Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare^(W) for battle, and be shattered!
    Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
¹⁰Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;^(X)
    propose your plan, but it will not stand,^(Y)
    for God is with us.^[d]^(Z)

¹¹This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me,^(AA) warning me not to follow^(AB) the way of this people:

¹²“Do not call conspiracy^(AC)
    everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,^(AD)
    and do not dread it.^(AE)
¹³The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,^(AF)
    he is the one you are to fear,^(AG)
    he is the one you are to dread.^(AH)
¹⁴He will be a holy place;^(AI)
    for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone^(AJ) that causes people to stumble^(AK)
    and a rock that makes them fall.^(AL)
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
    a trap and a snare.^(AM)
¹⁵Many of them will stumble;^(AN)
    they will fall and be broken,
    they will be snared and captured.”

¹⁶Bind up this testimony of warning^(AO)
and seal^(AP) up God’s instruction among my disciples.
¹⁷I will wait^(AQ) for the Lord,
who is hiding^(AR) his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.^(AS)

¹⁸Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me.^(AT) We are signs^(AU) and symbols^(AV) in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.^(AW)

The Darkness Turns to Light

¹⁹When someone tells you to consult^(AX) mediums and spiritists,^(AY) who whisper and mutter,^(AZ) should not a people inquire^(BA) of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰Consult God’s instruction^(BB) and the testimony of warning.^(BC) If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light^(BD) of dawn. ²¹Distressed and hungry,^(BE) they will roam through the land;^(BF) when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse^(BG) their king and their God. ²²Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom,^(BH) and they will be thrust into utter darkness.^(BI)

Footnotes

Isaiah 8:1 Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil; also in verse 3.
Isaiah 8:8 Immanuel means God with us.
Isaiah 8:9 Or Do your worst
Isaiah 8:10 Hebrew Immanuel

Psalm 33:1-12

New International Version

Psalm 33

¹Sing joyfully^(A) to the Lord, you righteous;
    it is fitting^(B) for the upright^(C) to praise him.
²Praise the Lord with the harp;^(D)
    make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.^(E)
³Sing to him a new song;^(F)
    play skillfully, and shout for joy.^(G)

⁴For the word of the Lord is right^(H) and true;^(I)
he is faithful^(J) in all he does.
⁵The Lord loves righteousness and justice;^(K)
the earth is full of his unfailing love.^(L)

⁶By the word^(M) of the Lord the heavens were made,^(N)
    their starry host^(O) by the breath of his mouth.
⁷He gathers the waters^(P) of the sea into jars^[a];^(Q)
    he puts the deep into storehouses.
⁸Let all the earth fear the Lord;^(R)
    let all the people of the world^(S) revere him.^(T)
⁹For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded,^(U) and it stood firm.

¹⁰The Lord foils^(V) the plans^(W) of the nations;^(X)
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
¹¹But the plans of the Lord stand firm^(Y) forever,
the purposes^(Z) of his heart through all generations.

¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,^(AA)
the people he chose^(AB) for his inheritance.^(AC)

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Footnotes

Psalm 33:7 Or sea as into a heap

Matthew 16:13-28

New International Version

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah^(A)

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;^(B) others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”^(C)

¹⁵“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”^(D)

¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood,^(E) but by my Father in heaven.^(F) ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter,^[a]^(G) and on this rock I will build my church,^(H) and the gates of Hades^[b] will not overcome it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys^(I) of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[d] loosed in heaven.”^(J) ²⁰Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone^(K) that he was the Messiah.

Jesus Predicts His Death^(L)

²¹From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem^(M) and suffer many things^(N) at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,^(O) and that he must be killed^(P) and on the third day^(Q) be raised to life.^(R)

²²Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

²³Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!^(S) You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.^(T) ²⁵For whoever wants to save their life^[e] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.^(U) ²⁶What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ²⁷For the Son of Man^(V) is going to come^(W) in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.^(X)